Chapter 5

4.

Rachel slowly looked around Abigail's office.

Expensive masterpieces hung on the walls.

Furniture intricately and finely crafted by hand.

High-priced decorations that were hard to find in an ordinary noble household.

Rachel gently opened the ornate jewelry box on the table.

"Wow."

Precious metals that could not be bought with a steward's salary were piled inside.

She lifted a lustrous pearl necklace and said,

"Being a steward must be quite profitable, huh?"

Abigail's eyes trembled at the sarcastic tone in her voice.

"T-These are only the finest items selected to be presented to the Duke. They can't possibly be mine, can they?"

"Is that so? So all of this was mine?"

"Yes. All of this belongs to the Duke. However…"

Abigail nervously glanced at Rupert, who stood behind Rachel.

"What brings you here? If you have any business, you could have just called for me."

Hmm. She is pretty.

Rachel examined the pearl necklace from all angles and said in a condescending tone,

"Why do you think?"

"W-Well, I don't know… I don't…"

The more someone has to hide, the more they tend to be flustered by such questions.

She quietly observed Abigail, who was as silent as a bee that had eaten honey.

Tiny wrinkles of greed were twitching at the corners of her eyes.

How much had she gotten away with while keeping 'Rachel' under her thumb?

But she couldn't do that anymore.

She patted the steward's shoulder and said,

"Good job. Abigail."

"Y-Yes…?"

"Now it's time for you to find your place."

She turned to Rupert, who was staring at her with sharp eyes, ready to follow any command.

"What… What do you mean, Duke! Why are you doing this?"

Rupert approached with a stern expression, and Abigail, her face pale, stepped back.

"Why am I doing this? Don't you know the reasons for your many sins?"

"I don't deserve this treatment. I have been loyal to the Duke. This is a misunderstanding!"

Pfft.

Loyal?

Are you deaf?

Where is this nonsense coming from?

"We'll see when we investigate."

As she gestured, Rupert firmly led Abigail out.

"Duke! Please listen to me. There must be a misunderstanding! Ahh…!"

Rachel looked at Anne, who was standing by, looking bewildered.

'This one…'

Unlike the neat and tidy person she had seen in the morning, this woman wore an old maid's uniform.

She was not one of Abigail's people.

"You there."

"Y-Yes, yes!"

"I need your help for a while."

New wine in new wineskins.

She smiled at Anne, whose eyes were wide with disbelief.

After imprisoning Abigail.

The first thing Rachel did was to call back the demoted staff.

The first to be brought in were the butler and the head maid.

She promoted the head maid to steward and immediately put her to work.

Managing the staff, repairing the mansion, checking the inventory of food and supplies, and more.

She left all mansion-related tasks to these two and locked herself in her office.

"…This is driving me crazy."

Reading Marcus's report, all she could do was swear.

Taxes had doubled in just six months.

Prices soared, and many merchant guilds withdrew their businesses from the duchy due to the high taxes.

The streets were flooded with unemployed and homeless people, and crime was rampant.

It was so bad that a riot could break out at any moment.

"I hope Marcus returns soon…"

To assess the financial situation.

To pay the overdue wages.

To investigate the state of the duchy.

To fend off the persistent visits from the Weaver family, who were trying to get their head of house back.

Without a secretary, handling everything alone was overwhelming.

Just as she was feeling the fatigue and leaning back in her chair to rest,

"Duke. The Knight Commander has returned!"

Anne informed her that Rupert, who had left to recover the money embezzled by the steward, had returned.

She went to the front of the mansion upon hearing that carriages were arriving one after another at the ducal residence.

"Wow, how much is all this…?"

She was speechless at the line of carriages in front of the mansion.

One, two, three, four, five, six.

Carriages filled with high-priced items that an ordinary employee could never afford.

All of these were the assets that the steward had embezzled over the past six months.

"Amazing. You managed to get this much in just six months."

Rupert said in a low voice.

"Your Excellency, this is only a part of it."

"Only a part?"

"I only brought what was visible."

"Of course. It would be strange if there were no hidden assets. Once we strip the Weaver family, it will help with the financial recovery."

"Yes."

The Weaver family's mansion and land could only be seized after a trial and a guilty verdict.

It wasn't the right time yet.

"Hmm, is the steward still not talking?"

"Yes. Despite intense interrogation, he is holding out."

"He must be fighting for his life. If he talks, his whole family will be executed."

"Embezzlement alone is a serious issue, but to tamper with your food… It's unforgivable."

Rage flickered in Rupert's blue eyes.

"Is this all you brought back today?"

"Of course not. Here are the property documents."

She took the papers Rupert handed her.

"…Good grief. You bought a villa in the capital? Who bought this?"

"Tail Weaver."

"I need to check the salary records of that person, don't I?"

Rupert, as if waiting for her to say it, handed over the salary records.

Swish.

"…"

No, Sir Rupert.

Aren't you the stoic and silent knight?

"…It seems you had a lot to say to the Knight Commander."

"C-Cough."

Rachel smiled at him, blushing and avoiding her gaze.

"Have you been working hard for me?"

"N-No, not at all. It's not like that."

"No. You must have."

Not only him, but everyone in this duchy.

How much suffering must they have endured while being manipulated by a treacherous hand and a head of house who shirked responsibility?

It was beyond words.

As evidence, Rupert bowed his head in silence, his expression grim.

"…But from now on, things will be different, right?"

"Of course."

For the happiness of her favorite and the happiness of her beloved, she was ready to dedicate her life.

'But when will Marcus return?'

It had been ten days since he left.

She wanted to know the true nature of the medicine she had been taking and to stabilize the family to bring her beloved back.

'With Marcus, things would move faster…'

She sighed inwardly, thinking about the backlog of work.

"Your Excellency, there you are!"

The long-awaited Marcus appeared, looking more haggard and exhausted than ten days ago.

"You're late. Marcus."

"I apologize. It took time to bring someone with me."

"Hmm?"

Marcus was not alone.

As he stepped aside, an elderly man with white hair appeared.

"You are…"

The former physician of the Agnus family, Lumen Tudors, spoke in a serious tone.

"Your Excellency, you need to be examined immediately."

***

The black hair fluttered in the fierce wind.

After a brief gust passed.

The man with sharp eyes and black eyes turned his gaze from the charred bodies.

Theo von Laxenburg, Duke.

He spoke in an indifferent voice.

"This seems to be about done."

The man with blue hair and blue eyes, Theo's secretary Dante, nodded as he adjusted his glasses.

"Yes. The rest can be left to the Margrave, and you can return."

A powerful figure had appeared among the barbarians at the border.

The chieftain's name was Texa.

Texa, leading a tribe of fewer than 2,000, had dared to challenge the empire's tyranny.

He was a tenacious opponent, but in front of the Duke of Laxenburg, he was just a moth.

The Duke had resolved the enemy that the Margrave had struggled with for a year in just a week.

As long as Laxenburg stood guard, nothing could invade the Castor Empire.

"…"

The reality of allying with such an emperor was absurd, but he was in a body that could not survive without spilling blood due to the sins of his predecessors.

It was a mutually beneficial relationship.

The emperor used his curse to expand territory, and he gained the legitimacy of war through the imperial command.

"By the way, there's new news about the Agnus family."

"…What's happened?"

"Didn't the Duke and his wife die in an accident six months ago?"

"Ah, yes."

Dante continued with a mysterious smile.

"Yes. It was an accident on the surface. Anyway, do you remember the problems that arose in the Agnus family after that?"

Theo nodded, recalling the current Duke.

"The head of the house stopped public activities and has been drinking every day, right?"

"Yes, that was the case, but…"

"Several wolves were eyeing the Agnus family. Has it been taken over already?"

"No, not that. There's been a change there."

"A change?"

"The Duke seems to be regaining his senses and is cleaning up both inside and out. It's good to know."

"Is that woman regaining her senses?"

Rachel Agnus.

A woman who used to tremble behind her parents whenever they met.

While the rumors about her following him were strange, how could such a weak person run a ducal family?

"Even if she does, it's a family at the end of its rope."

When such a person becomes the head of a family, the ship will sink.

She had no interest in the obvious.

He put aside his thoughts about the Agnus family, reorganized his troops, and returned to the castle.

Eobita, the Margrave, approached with exaggerated laughter upon hearing the news of victory.

"Oh! Your Majesty! Congratulations on the great victory. What would you like to do? Shall we go to the banquet hall?"

Theo glanced at Dante without answering.

It meant he was too bothered to answer and wanted him to handle it.

"His Majesty will only accept your good intentions. Unfortunately, he has to go to the capital for a victory party."

"If that's the case, there's nothing I can do! Hahaha!"

Despite his words, the Margrave's face was full of smiles.

The existence of the Duke of Laxenburg was always like that.

A problem solver who dealt with troublesome issues, but also a chilling and uncomfortable presence.

Theo didn't care.

The gazes of insignificant people were not important to him.

He just needed to take what he needed.

A brief smile flickered at the corner of his mouth.

Oh.